Modern aircraft utilize multiple electrical power systems throughout the aircraft to provide power to the various aircraft systems. In some aircraft, each electrical system is controlled via a dedicated power controller or set of power controllers. The power controllers include an on/off switch as well as associated sensing electronics for determining the state of the power controller and/or the controlled electronics. The power controllers are, in some examples, solid state power controllers (SSPCs). In order to control each of the power controllers, a main control unit receives a status signal from each power controller and outputs control instructions to each of the power controllers through a corresponding physical control channel dedicated to the power controller. The main control unit can be any suitable type of digital controller.
In modern electronic control systems solid state power controllers (SSPCs) are used for switching control and circuit breaker functions. Depending on the size of the load and the wire used, different amperage or capacity SSPCs are required for different loads. Traditionally this was accomplished by building physically different sized SSPC units on control circuit boards as needed for the specific application. This results in the need for many different versions of control circuit boards with varying combinations of SSPC ratings.